3 Semester 1 Week 5
3.1 Summarising papers, writing, bullet point introductions
In this session, we cover summarising papers as well as general writing advice before specifically covering bullet point introductions. I then ask students to bring a bullet point introduction with them into the Semester 1 Week 7 session.
I’ve made some notes for this session. Feel free to use/adapt etc. as you wish.
3.1.1 Expected progress
- By now, I would be expecting to see some ethics drafts coming in and all projects should be firmed up. Rationales should all be submitted.
3.1.2 Summarising papers
- I cover some suggestions that I have on how to summarise papers
- Summarise with intent (what is the purpose?)
- Pull out the key details (remember can go back for further detail)
- Take notes for the Discussion, even when reading for the Introduction
- Further details are linked in the document in Internal Resources
3.1.3 General writing advice
- Writing advice will likely differ from supervisor to supervisor. Here are some of my suggestions (rest are in the document linked previously):
- It’s better to write something than nothing
- Know what works for you (e.g. timing, accountability, blocking time out)
- Small goals can be helpful
- Split out generation and editing
- This can help get over the hurdle of the ‘perfect’ sentence
3.1.4 Bullet point introductions
- I discuss that I would like everyone to write a bullet point introduction for the next session. I tell students that I do not expect this to be perfect, and that it can change down the line
- We go through some of the suggestions I have for writing this.
- I ask students to post on the Teams channel before the next group meeting (in two weeks time) but others may choose a different process
- I signpost them to Wil’s resource on developing a rationale for their introduction.
3.2 Internal resources
My suggestions on summarising papers, writing in general, and developing a bullet point intro
Wil’s resource on developing a rationale
General writing tips for quantitative research (from the RM1 team): (Chapters 11-20)
General writing tips for qualitative research (from the RM2 team)
3.3 External resources
Here’s an example of a template for summarising a paper, which can be helpful for students if they want some guidance on where to start.